A heartwarming romance about a spirited independent woman who finds the courage to stand on her own and find love in the most unexpected way. It was a delight to read how the heroine obercomes all these obstacles and still finds a way to be optimistic and open to finding love and happiness. I also enjoyed the hero's self deprecating humor and charm. His deep dark history and guilt over his own actions and behaviour and how he thinks he can not be redeemed is the perfect setup for the heroine to come and save him from himself. It is a sweet romance between two people who find love in the most unexpected manner. I would definitely reccomend this book to people who enjoy a good romantic tale with a happy ending ❤

I'm a big fan of historical romance, but this was my first book by Darcy Burke and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed. I was engrossed into this story right from the start and particularly liked how the plot started pretty much immediately and therefore kept my attention the whole way through. I hadn't read the other books in this series but didn't feel like I was missing anything crucial and could pick up the setting and character dynamics between established characters pretty easily. Jane and Anthony had great chemistry and I loved how their romance developed, and even more so liked the feminist undertones in this book. Overall this was a fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend.

Darcy Burke seemed to step away from her typical romance and it worked for the third installment of the Spitfire Society series. Jane and Anthony both have a bit of baggage in their past; Jane the self-proclaimed spinster and Anthony the drunk. And, of course, add in two adorable kittens, Daffodil and Fern.

Anthony, beaten and drunk, ends up on Jane’s doorstep. He is an acquaintance and brother of her friend Sarah. Jane and her staff keep/let Anthony stay hidden in her borrowed home so he can heal and not have to explain ‘getting beaten up’ by goats. Loved it!

As their acquaintanceship and friendship grow, Jane’s request to assist in making rumors more than real leads to Anthony staying off the bottle and helps him to reassess his own life. These two are opposites who fit perfectly together as both heal and deal with family issues. I loved Anne and her support of Jane.

You will love Jane’s approach to her spinsterhood and rumor, as well as, finding out why Anthony drinks to excess.

2.5 stars

First off, I would like to say that I loved all of the characters except for Jane, our heroine. She was just so, dare I say it, plain. That's right you heard it here first. She was a plain Jane. There was just no substance to her character and I thought her backstory was a little half assed. We uncover all the secrets about who spread the horrid rumors about her within one paragraph and it was all very rushed. However, I loved the hero, Anthony. He was charming and sweet even though he had quite a dark past. I also loved Anne and the Vicar and I was so excited when I heard that their story would be coming out soon.

The beginning of the book was very slow to me, and things didn't start to pick up until the 60 percent mark of the book. The last half of the book seemed very rushed to me as well. So, I just thought that the beginning could have definitely been condensed and the end a little stretched out. There's a scene in the book where Anthony tells Jane that he is going to save his reputation instead of helping out with her sister. However on the next page, we see him change his mind and help out Jane instead. He was so adamant on saving his reputation on the pages before that the quick change of thought really confused me.

I will say that the banter between Jane and Anthony was very cute and I even laughed out loud in during some scenes. I will definitely be reading from Darcy Burke again because I did have a fun time with this book.

GREAT MALE LEAD, BUT SADLY LACKING FEMALE LEAD

When I was first introduced to the Spitfire Society, I was intrigued by the mission, these women had of making their own futures and controlling their own lives. However, I didn't feel like that mission or the Society was given the credit it was due in this book. It fell short of the intended goal, I think. Still, this was not a bad book, it had some great, steamy scenes as well as a great male lead.

"The purpose of the Spitfire Society is to celebrate womanhood and whatever independence we can claim."
- Jane


👍 WHAT I LIKED 👍

Anthony: Anthony has been cropping up from time to time throughout this series and whenever she popped up, he was always silly drunk. The mystery of why he felt the need to be drunk at all times got under my skin and in this book I was happy to finally get the answers. I liked seeing another more vulnerable side to Anthony, than what I had seen in previous books. I liked seeing how kind and upright he was. He was a very nice romantic hero.

"I won't marry, and I won't fall in love with you."
- Anthony


Spitfire Society: I still very much enjoyed the idea of the Spitfire Society, of these women taking control for themselves. I wanted a lot more of the Spitfire Society!

👎 WHAT I DISLIKED 👎

Plot: The plot line felt somewhat trivial, I was missing something new and original. It failed to completely draw me in or surprise me in any way. I felt like I had read this story before in other historical romance novels, which saddened me. I wanted something new and fresh, not old and used.

Jane: Our heroine Jane did nothing to please me. I couldn't really feel her as a character at first. She felt bland and flat. But then I started to realise how manipulative she was. She took advantage of Anthony in some dicey situations when he was drunk and even (I think) pressured him to be intimate even when he had said he didn't want to. Once that character trait became obvious to me, I just couldn't like Jane at all. She didn't deserve Anthony.

God, I wish I liked this book more than I did. This book was a 3.5 star read for, and it wasn’t as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. I didn’t connect with the characters and the writing at all, and the story was not as interesting as I believed it would be.
I requested this book as an ARC on Netgalley and I thought it would be a fun read, which it was for a bit, but most of the time I wasn’t into it. It may have been my lack of motivation, or the mood that I was in, but quite honestly I don’t think this book was for me.

-This book is about Jane, a self proclaimed spinster, who one day gets an unexpected- beat up bloody- Lord on her doorstep. She nurses him into a decent condition, and when an old rumor about her resurfaces she requests repayment from his Lordship by having an affair with her. He refuses at first but is undeniably attracted to her, as she is to him, to which the rest of the book explores their passion for each other.
There is a deeper secret, which his Lordship Colton, has buried inside him, and deals with it by drinking spirits to numbness. Jane, or Miss Pemberton, helps Lord Colton to deal with his demons while they uncover the truth about what hurts them the most. And that is how their story continues.

This book was a lot of fun to read as Darcy Burke never disappoints.
A well crafted plot, an excellent cast of characters and a vivid historical background are the elements I loved in this story.
I can't wait for the next instalment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

After a disastrous attempt on the marriage mart and wanting to avoid the match her parents were pushing on her, Jane declared herself a spinster. With the aid of her BFF, she has moved out and is embarking on her life as an independent spinster no longer under the thumb of her family. Instead of balls and functions, she is now concentrating her attention to humanitarian endeavors of the Spitfire Society. All is going well until she finds a man unceremoniously dumped, beaten and unconscious on her doorstep. Oh, the scandalous shenanigans.

I honestly can't get enough of the Spitfire Society! Historical romances with feminist leanings and radical ideas of bucking society's social rules and morays- just makes me a happy girl. I'm a rebel, I know. There is also something so intriguing about a tortured hero overcoming his traumas. Gah! I know, I'm such a gushy girl sometimes. But I'm just a goner for personal growth and a 'we're in this together' mentality.

Darcy Burke always manages to write fun, saucy, and entertaining historicals with light-fluffy feel-good endings. It's always a pleasure to read her books.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

This is intense, emotional and romantic. When Jane finds Anthony on her doorstep, beaten almost beyond recognition, she insists on nursing him herself. Anthony wants to leave, because he's attracted to her, but hasn't felt as good as he feels with her in a long time. Jane doesn't make it any easier for him to stay by propositioning him, something he inexplicably wants, but knows he shouldn't. Anthony is a mess, drinking himself into oblivion, because of the circumstances surrounding his parents deaths. Jane vows to help him overcome the past, while she tries to overcome her failure if not securing a husband. Both are surprised about the things they discover about the past, and how it's affected them. Jane is a sweet, outgoing and determined. Anthony is charming, vulnerable and stubborn. Theirs is a steamy and emotional relationship that tugs at the heart. I've loved every book in this series, and each one is better than the last.

As I read the synopsis for this story in Netgalley, I thought that this was right up my alley. It was and I did think the story was okay. It is a fun regency read. Jane or Lady Pemberly, the main character stood out because she was a “self proclaimed” spinster. Naturally in a romance book if you proclaim this, it is when your match shows up. As for tropes, the story relied so much on the tragic hero/heroine and forever spinster/rake trope.I like reading this kinds of stories since one way or the other they will be redeemed in the end.

The story starts of with Lord Colton or Anthony being found seriously injured in the front of Lady Pemberly’s residence. From this the story started and their relationship rolled. As they progressed on, they develop feelings for each other. It became complicated since both have pasts which weigh heavy on them. I like the writing of this story, it was simple and modern. It had the entertaining witty banter which I like in a regency read. I was bothered with the consent in a particular scene in this story. Also, the amount of love making scenes were too much for me. I would have appreciated it more if it was used as an enhancer for the story.

I gave this story a 3 hearts rating because it was a usual regency read. It had a lot more love making scenes than I prefer. I would have liked for the story to shine more. Also, the consent in a particular scene bothered me. As for the writing, I liked it. The self proclaimed spinster was a nice touch on the heroine’s character. It is my first time reading a character with this attribute. I was irritated with Anthony but his depressive state was valid. It was nice to read that he was able to overcome this hurdle in his life. I could say that both characters are survivors and deserve each other. The Daffodil and Fern were a cute touch to the story too.

This is a great love story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jane’s lucky day was when she found Anthony laying in her doorway badly beaten. She spends a week treating his injuries and starting to fall for him. Jane has declared herself a spinster and a member of the Spitfire Society. Anthony is beating himself up for over the death of his parents which he tries to drown in alcohol. There is a lot going on in this book which involves extortion and the man behind this. The story is well written, entertaining and I would highly recommend it as a great read.

I’ve read one of Burke’s books before and one thing I loved about her books is how quickly you’re engrossed into the story. Since the very first page, it’s nearly impossible to put down a book.

For me, the way they met is too early. Given the blurb you would expect for the meet-cute to happen later in the book, maybe a couple chapters in, but in this one it’s the first or second page. There’s no introduction to the scene, her situation (declaring a spinster and living in a house all on her own). We find that in the following chapters.

I talked to one bookstagrammer about this and she said I need to read the previous two books. This one is a standalone but apparently some clues about them are mentioned before. I still wish we get some of them in this book.

Once they meet, they start an affair. He’s a brooding hero, invested more in the past than his future so she brings a light to his days. I loved her determination.

I especially loved those little moments in between. They are mostly connected to her kittens, but hey, I’m a cat lover so reading about him going all love dovey on a pair of kittens is making me go all gooey. And probably every other reader, too.

When we’re introduced to the Vicar, the man behind the Society’s curtains, I admit, I got curious. I’ve been thinking if maybe, just maybe he’s not who he is supposed to be and when I read the blurb of the following books I knew I was right. I just wish his book would follow next. I would absolutely LOVE reading about him!

4 stars.

Title: A Duke Will Never Do
Author: Darcy Burke
Publication date: 19 May 2020
My rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads rating: 4.31
Pages: 248
Genre: Victorian Historical Romance

A Duke Will Never Do is book # 3 in the Spitfire’s Society series by Darcy Burke. I absolutely loved this book and enjoyed reading every single page.

Amazon’s blurb book description: “After failing on the Marriage Mart, Jane Pemberton has two choices: submit to her parents’ edict to marry their boring neighbor or become a self-declared spinster and take up residence in the official headquarters of the Spitfire Society. It’s really no choice at all, and Jane is eager to embrace her newfound independence. She soon finds an unconscious viscount on her doorstep and nurses him back to health. When he offers to compensate her, she requests payment in the form of private instruction of a scandalous and intimate kind.”

My Review:
Jane Pemberton has decided to declare herself a spinster, an unmarried woman. She moved out of her parents home and has decided to get away from the shackles of society. She’s moved out on her own and intends to start living her life for her own pleasures. When Anthony, Lord Colton, turns up on her doorstep beaten and incapacitated, she brings him in to nurse him back to health. The two form a friendship that blossoms into more, but can the secrets of Anthony’s past, with a possible extortion, be put to rest for the couple to have their happily ever after?

I came into this series thanks to Netgalley’s ARC from Darcy Burke. Jane is a sweet and unassuming woman who has spent her life pleasing others. She longs for something more than a life lived pleasing others, and she has finally gotten the courage to grab that life for herself. Jane’s parents are just horrible to her and make her feel worthless and inferior for various rumors that were started about her during her First Season in coming out in society. These rumors made it impossible for her to find a nice gentleman to marry her, throw her over the edge and move out of her parents house.

Anthony is a rogue, in disguise of course. He is known all over town for his drinking and bar fights, but underneath it all he’s hurting from his parents murder. His way of hiding his true feelings is by drinking his sorrow away and fighting others in bars that he attends at night.

I absolutely loved the vulnerability that Anthony portrays in his love for Jane, but decides to hide it inside and not tell her. I was hoping for a happily ever after sooner, rather than later. Anthony is indeed mourning the loss of his parents and his ability to share that grief with Jane was one of my favorite parts of this book.
This book has been one of most satisfying reads I have had this year. I am giving this book a 5 star. Even though I started with Book # 3 in the Spitfire Society series, I loved these two characters, Jane, Anthony, and the kittens. Who can forget the wonderful little kittens, Fern and Daffodil. They were truly the icing on the cake in this novel.

Darcy Burke is a new author to me and I’m excited to read more from her. If you do not know Darcy Burke, do yourself a favor and pick up this series today. I will most definitely come back for more of her Victorian Historical romance novels, including her upcoming new releases.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Darcy Burke Publishing for sharing an eARC of A Duke Will Never Do by Darcy Burke. This is my honest review.

This is the second book of the spitfire series, but can be read alone and everything understood. I have not read the first but I may as I enjoyed this book. This book does have some heavy points in it. Anthony, Viscount Colton, is a drunk accurately blames himself for his parents death. Most of the time I don't agree when they blame their self but with his I think its believable and he is to blame. His actions were the direct cause of his parents death, as it was a planned attack on him. He has many redeeming qualities and I liked that he held off as long as he could to be seduced but Jane Pemberton would not take no for an answer, almost to an annoying point. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
Jane Pemberton failed in her first and second season, so her parents found her a match and she didn't love him. So she makes the rash decision to live in a friends house instead of her parents to declare herself a spinster. She regrets this but doesn't see any way out of it. Can her and Anthony heal their hearts and find true love?

I had high hopes for A Duke Will Never Do. I didn't read the previous two books in the series but I love the idea of the spitfire society. I might read them soon. But this book features a self-declared spinster named Jane and a tortured, self-destructive hero named Anthony, Viscount Colton. And the story started with Jane finding Anthony in her doorstep and then she make it her duty to take care of him.

I like Anthony's character and I find his self-destructive behaviour valid. His parents are murdered because of him and it should've been him in the carriage. But he was busy gambling and drinking that his parents who went. The murderer was expecting Anthony too but ended up killing his parents instead. It's horrible and Anthony is in need of therapy, if you ask me. On the other hand, I didn't connect with Jane as much as I wanted. Sure, I liked that she took it upon herself to live her life. In her time, it's brave to declare herself a spinster and that despite the fact that she really wants to marry. She just want to do it for love. But I didn't like her behaviour the rest of the book, which brings me to the romance.

The main characters' individual personas should've been enough to make the romance great but there are plot elements I didn't like. Anthony wants to make up for Jane for taking care of him and Jane proposed that he takes her virginity. Still, that's okay but Anthony doesn't want that. Because Anthony despite his current behavior is an honorable man. He knows Jane as his sister's friend. He knows he's not the right person for her considering his current way of living and of course he can't ruin him.

But Jane kept pushing herself to him. Like, come on!!! Sure, Anthony is already attracted to her. But every man will jump at any woman who basically throws herself at him. I'm all for women who knows how to ask for what they want sexually but Anthony refused him so many times. I want to scream at Jane to let him be. He's an adult and he has the right to decide for himself. His life is already a series of bad choices that ruined him.

And CONSENT!!!

This is romance, so eventually, Anthony gives in to her requests. But even then, she does whatever she does sexually. She loses her virginity at a time that Anthony didn't want it to happen yet. She initiated it. Of course, it should be the woman who decides when to loose her virginity but with consent from the other party!!!

Again CONSENT!!!

It almost seems to me that Jane took advantage of Anthony's attraction to her. Worse, there are times that Anthony's not sober. Anthony is an alcoholic. Like I said, he needs therapy. Jane is such a turnoff and I don't like that once they start having sexual relationships, they have sex every time they see each other.

I also don't buy the fact that when Anthony is ill is he can't go home. He can walk around jane's home. Surely, he can walk to the carriage and go home. So it turns out as just convenient to the plot. The only fun part of this book are the kittens who love Anthony may be more than they love Jane. Wise kittens!!!

I'm really sad that this book and I didn't agree. But hopefully,the other books in the series are better.

i give this book 4 stars because it was Riddled with guilt and self-loathing over the death of his parents, Anthony drinks to numb himself. After a fight leaves him bruised and broken on our heroine’s doorstep, he spends the week recovering at her house and for once is sober as she has instructed her staff not to serve him strong spirits. Whilst not in an alcoholic haze, Anthony starts to connect and feel once more but his guilt is not easily assuaged.
A lovely story about forgiving yourself, leaving darkness behind and moving forward into the future. The rather heavy and tragic backstory is handled with a light touch that makes it an engaging read.

A Duke Will Never Do is the third book in The Spitfire Society series, and can be read as a stand alone. This is the first book in this series I've read, and I had no problems following along. Just enough backstory and character appearances from previous books (and I believe some characters and name dropping from other series by this author) to make me want to read the other stories.

Jane is a "Spitfire". Her family demanded she get married, but Jane wanted to hold out for love or become a spinster. She left her family and is living alone (with a house full of servants) in the home of her friend Phoebe (who just got married and moved away). So even though Jane is trying to exert her independence, she's not really having to "rough" it. She's not having to make her way on her own. Her friend is even giving her an allowance! I applaud her for wanting to be independent and go against society's conventions, but she's not having to do so with any real sacrifice or hard work, and I think this makes her character just a little less interesting. I didn't sympathize with her because she still had it all.

I have to say, the character of Jane was a problem for me. I just didn't like her. She was selfish and demanding. Every conversation with Anthony was about what she wanted and needed. He would finally start talking about his issues, and she'd change the subject to her problems (the biggest being finding out who started a rumor about her 5 years prior, a rumor about being "loose"). Anthony is dealing with trying to quit alcohol, extortion, and grief and guilt over the death of his parents, but sure, a rumor you're just hearing about now is way more important!

There were also instances of dubious consent. Jane throws herself at Anthony, even after he says no and stop. Several times. She corners him alone. When Anthony feels guilty about things when they get intimate with each other, she talks about how much she wanted it, and that's basically the only thing that mattered.

Anthony was a very beta hero, and I thought he was emasculated by Jane just a bit. And I felt sorry for him. He could do better. I didn't feel the chemistry between these two at all. Jane was perfectly content with being a mistress for most of the book.

There were quite a few intimate scenes, and except where consent came into question, they were well done. The banter between the characters was good, some witty moments. I enjoyed Anthony with his friends, as I enjoyed Jane with hers.

So in all, this book was well written, and it did keep me entertained, but I had some issues with Jane and consent.

2.5 stars rounded to 3. I received this book from NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. A Duke Will Never Do is the second book in Darcy Burke’s The Spitfire Society series. I think it would be best to read the first book in the series prior to reading this one and, note that for those who don’t enjoy duke books, that there is no duke in this book. After five disappointing seasons without a match, Jane Pemberton has declared herself a spinster and moved into her friend Phoebe’s house to avoid an unwanted marriage that her parents were promoting. She discovers Anthony, Viscount Colton, unconscious, severely beaten, and quite drunk on her doorstep and takes him in to nurse back to health. Anthony is on a one-way trip to disaster, he blames himself for his parents' deaths and uses alcohol to numb his feelings of guilt. Jane helps him to dry out, and a friendship grows between them, leading to her ask him to teach her about passion. Secrets and lies, blackmail and last-minute rescues from villains make this a story that will have you avidly turning pages until way past your bedtime. Medium Steam. Publishing Date May 19, 2020. #ADukeWillNeverDo #DarcyBurke #HistoricalRomance #NetGalley #bookstagram

A Duke Will Never Do follows Jane Pemberton, self-proclaimed spinster as she embarks on a future WITHOUT yearning in hope for a husband. Instead, she plans to take on humanitarian issues through the Spitfire Society in the effort to claim independence and happiness in a society that doesn’t prioritise these traits in women. When Antony Colton turns up unconscious on her doorstep however, things take a surprisingly adventurous turn.

Jane’s character was easily likeable and not angsty or frustrating to read AT ALL. This is practically unheard of in this genre. There was still tension in this story however, it was in reverse. Antony Viscount Colton was the kind, sensitive and vulnerable of the pair and in need of support from Jane. I liked this book’s different take on the usual roles male and female characters play in a historical romance.

The pace was jaunty in this regency-set romance and made for a fast read. If you’re after something with a few remarkable side characters (whom I’m assuming are from books 1 and 2) as well as a good dose of intimate moments between the MCs then this is the book for you!

I’ve rated this one 4 Stars as I happily read it all in one sitting. I lowered this rating as this story could have benefitted from some additional tension to really allow readers to connect with the characters. Particularly in regards to Antony’s personal addictions as a coping mechanism for his traumatic past. The issue of his addiction was skimmed over with the implication that purely being in Jane’s presence was enough to quash the cravings. This read as quite unrealistic to me and I would have liked this explored more.

4 Stars.

*Arc provided by Darcy Burke Publishing via Netgalley*

A Duke Will Never Do
Series: Book 3 in the Spitfire Society Series
Rating: 3 stars
Thank you to the author/publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for an honest review.

A Duke Will Never Do was an okay read for me. Jane has decided to become an official spinster and has been living on her own for some time. It is until one day she finds a beaten up man at her door that her life changes for ever. Anthony has no recollection on how he ended all bruised up and is now being nursed by Jane and her household.
As a repayment for her care she wants an affair with him. He’s a little reluctant at first. He’s carried a very big guilt in his heart that has affected the way he’s been living his life. I liked how he was honest with her about them being together was not a good idea. Jane’s determination that he would be the one moved their relationship to the next step.
Their sexy times were very hot, but I felt the romance was missing a little. They were great together talking about their problems. Anthony even goes through a big personal change that made him worthy of Jane’s love.
An added sweet bonus were Jane’s kittens. They were scene stealers! So cute!